For me personally, I grew up Catholic, went to Mass every week, got confirmed went to Catholic school for every level except high school - whole shebang. The one thing that stuck with me the most with getting a catholic based education was that at the end of the day - everyone has a different relationship with faith and spirituality. That how it manifests in others might not be anything like how I view it. But that does not give me the right or even duty to condemn another person - especially one who is simply living in a way I personally cannot understand.
Every religion class, every lecture from a priest or bishop or youth minister highlighted the most important thing - as Father Tony said to my kindergarten class - you don’t have to like or understand everyone, but you do have to love them
And love isn’t an obligation so much as it is a mindset that every person you see, is in fact a fully realized human being with wants, needs, likes, embarrassing stories, goals, loves, and secrets - and you’ll never know everything about them - honestly you’ll probably never know everything about yourself - but that doesn’t make them any less worthy of your respect.
When people say faith and queerness aren’t compatible - I often wonder how they reconcile that world view with the idea of “love thy neighbor” and “thou shall not lie” Being openly queer and having faith is simply an individual living their most authentic life - they aren’t living a lie but rather the truth God created.
I’ll leave it on one last note - “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[c] you were doing it to me!’ Matthew 25
The least of these isn’t just the poor, the sick, the helpless - but those deemed unworthy by society. Jesus sought out the outcasts, the pariahs in society - those reviled, feared, or hated. I try and live the idea expressed in that passage in every interaction I have with another person - because every person, regardless of status or situation, is made in God’s image.
Who am I to judge?